Public Health Aspects of Migrant Health: A Review of the Evidence on Health Status for Labour Migrants in the European Region

Excerpt

This report synthesizes the findings on policies and interventions to improve the access to and quality of health care provision for labour migrants in the WHO European Region. Based on a systematic literature review in MEDLINE, Embase, Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts (ASSIA), EconLit, Social Sciences Citation Index and a grey literature search of studies published in English between 2005 and 2015, 33 relevant studies were identified. Sixteen studies focused on specific policies or interventions for labour migrants and included information on whether they were successful, 17 studies plus two additional studies included best practice recommendations for future policy-making. The findings point at barriers other than legal ones, which prevent full health care utilization and highlight, inter alia, the role of documentation status, high socioeconomic status, health insurance, labour unions and safe working conditions. Other important factors include the necessity of an intersectoral approach among different government divisions and cross-border cooperation as potential contributors to reducing inequalities for labour migrants.